England and Argentina will meet on Wednesday in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final infused with decades of bitter rivalry after they battled past Norway and Switzerland respectively in the quarter-finals.
The South Americans and their talisman Lionel Messi must defeat England in Atlanta to keep alive their hopes of becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962.
England and their key partnership of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane must win to have any hope of ending a 60-year wait for a major trophy.
The winner of that game will take on the victor of France’s semi-final with Spain — they meet in Texas on Tuesday — in the final on July 19.
The Argentina v England match comes 40 years after a seismic encounter in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Argentina secured a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Azteca with two goals from Diego Maradona — one the infamous “Hand of God” when he punched the ball into the net and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the greatest goals ever to grace a World Cup.
For Maradona’s heir, Messi, it will be his 206th match in an Albiceleste shirt, but his first ever against England.
The match will also take place against the backdrop of a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, known in Spanish as the Malvinas.
Britain sent a military taskforce in 1982 to reclaim the islands after Argentine troops invaded.
After Argentina beat a dogged Swiss side 3-1 in Kansas City on Saturday thanks to extra-time goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, their coach Lionel Scaloni attempted to take the political heat out of the meeting with England.
“The message is this is a football game. That’s what I can say,” Scaloni said.
“It is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. They have an excellent coach and this is a football game and that’s all.”
– ‘Very lucky ‘ –
That coach, Thomas Tuchel, was angry with his England team after they needed extra-time on Saturday to end Norway’s historic run in sweltering Miami.
Two goals from Jude Bellingham gave England a nervy 2-1 victory to send them into the semi-finals for only the fourth time in history.
Tuchel said his team would need to make a noticeable improvement if they were to have any chance of reaching the final.
In energy-sapping Florida heat and humidity, England’s shaky defence allowed Andreas Schjelderup to unleash a rasping shot from the left to put Norway ahead on 36 minutes.
But England got a huge break in first-half stoppage time when Bellingham equalised after an attack that was initiated when a goal kick from Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland appeared to hit an overhead camera cable.
Norway’s players protested in vain and the goal stood. The Norwegians also had a goal controversially disallowed before Bellingham then poached the winner in extra-time.
“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,” Tuchel said afterwards.
“The result is fantastic. The last four is amazing, but not happy with the performance… we were very lucky today.”
While football’s world governing body FIFA later said there was “no evidence” the ball had hit the cable before England’s first goal, Norway coach Stale Solbakken was adamant.
“That was unlucky for us,” Solbakken said. “The ball fell straight down from the sky, so it changed its direction. But we can’t do anything about that.”
Erling Haaland, the marauding forward who scored seven goals as Norway reached uncharted waters at the tournament, said his team’s performance had inspired a new generation.
“How we put Norway on the map is maybe one thing that touches me the most,” said Haaland, who failed to score for the first time in 15 competitive games for his country.
“Hopefully now we can establish something when it comes to Euros, World Cups and everything because our generation is amazing and also all this gives motivation to young people back in Norway that it’s possible to play a big stage in the world with a Norwegian shirt.”
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